Smith’s tall tower experience also includes the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, Nanjing Greenland Financial Center in Nanjing, China, the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago and Pearl River Tower, now in the late stages of construction in Guangzhou, China. He said in a statement that the Kingdom Tower symbolizes Saudi Arabia as an important global business and cultural leader, and demonstrates the strength and creative vision of its people.

Talal Al Maiman, a board member of Kingdom Holding and of JEC, said in the statement that the building’s iconic status will not depend solely on its height. "We envision Kingdom Tower as an iconic new marker of Jeddah's historic importance as the traditional gateway to the holy city of Mecca," he said.

The great height of the tower necessitates one of the world's most sophisticated elevator systems. The tower complex will contain 59 elevators, including 54 single-deck and five double-deck elevators, along with 12 escalators. Elevators serving the observatory will travel at a rate of 10 meters per second in both directions. Another unique feature of the design is a penthouse outdoor sky terrace, roughly 98 feet in diameter, at level 157.

Smith Gill also designed the master plan for the 23-hectare Kingdom Tower Waterfront District, which surrounds the tower and which will include residential and commercial buildings, a shopping mall, high-quality outdoor spaces and other amenities. The district encompasses a high-end shopping mall, plus additional development parcels that accommodate commercial and high-density residential uses, offices, two luxury hotels and high-quality open spaces, including the central Tower Plaza. A waterfront promenade will connect Kingdom Tower, the various development parcels, the open space areas and the mall together. Kingdom City was designed by HOK Architects.